[NA-Discuss] [At-Large] Letter to the Board

[cheryl at hovtek.com.au]

Robert et.al.  Please see my intewrsaced comments to Robert's recent  
posting below...

CLO

> Evan,

> The issue of local user participation ended up being less then  
> optimal due to a couple of reasons.

<CLO> Many in the ICANN Community have agreed and complained about the  
standard of Public and Remote participation at this Cairo meeting...  
The matter of ICANN Meeting participation and our ( ALAC & At-Large's)  
response to this issue will be a matter for discussion at the next  
ALAC Meeting on the 25th

> First, repeated requests for a room to host users was blocked -  
> ewith the excuse given that rooms were not free. Of course that was  
> not the case as the at large room was pretty well free when we were  
> nothere.

<CLO> Robert it would be so much easier if you Do NOT mix Apples and  
Oranges=> please you are referring to a meeting of public interest  
(Local Bloggers) that was hoping to have a meeting at the ICANN Venue  
so that some of us could interface with them if we so desired... Your  
request for a room for this activity was sent to Nick and I on the  
30th of October at 2300 hrs AEDST and in it (it is inserted below) you  
indicate sponsorship from other entities to assist you in this  
independent venture (well in as much as you were writing from the POV  
of your role/ capacity as Project Director, Internet Freedom, Freedom  
House... I do NOT see any outcome of this as a Public Participation in  
ICANN Meetings matter...  And the community should note that Nick  
replied within a few hours and and you responded on the 31st that YOU  
had not seen the video in question (see snip below)

> Icann and some alac members expressed the vire informally that a  
> local user event was not in "in the remit of at-large" any sensitive  
> ssues might require that "a formal appology" be given to thee  
> egyptian govt offcials.

<CLO> My statements were in regards to conversation threads that were  
critical of the host country of an ICANN meeting being conducted on  
what I believe was an ICANN related ALAC in Cairo Chat space... that  
was fixed at the time, to at least my satisfaction as Chair of the  
ALAC and is unrelated to public participation and I stand by all of my  
actions.

When aked directly if the video could be shown at the enf of at alac  
meeting cheryl stated to me that it was possible, only if it was  
screen by her. I was not awarethat the chair has ever had vetting  
righs on content

<CLO>  Cheryl stated that "to get into the very tight agenda time we  
had for our ALAC meetings within the ICANN meeting  the ALAC or at  
least the ExCom would have needed to see the video to even consider  
the logistics and planning at that time" YOU stated you had still not  
seen it... that is ALL that I said regarding video footage being added  
under and any other business  in any meeting and you should note that  
this is a procedural meeting matter The Chair has total control of the  
Agenda of an ALAC meeting according to the ROP's and again this is NOT  
a matter of Public Participation in th ICANN Meeting...

> Local users did want to come, but with no possible ok from the chair  
> or nick, an adhoc session had to be organized. With little adcance  
> notice - of course few people came. Whilei was very disappointed  
> with the turnout - it was good to see who did attend. It was mainly  
> just the north americans. The rest , well did not seem interested.

<CL0>  Local users could have entered any publiuc  ( open meeting  
space in any part of the ICANN meeting in Cairo  and specifically with  
regards to a video veiwing where ALAC people and those interested in  
ICANN could attend at the venue, you were able to organise a room, it  
was mentioned/ advertised on our lists and chats and  those who turned  
up turned up +> AGAIN this is NOT a Public Participation in ICANN  
meeting matter.

> That alac and at large present did seem interested does not mean  
> that local users did not want to meet us. Comments and blog posting  
> in key MENA sites clearly show that the locals did want to meet us.

> On the larger issue of engagement, namely virtual participation - I  
> was shocked by the lack of effort undertaken. No dial-in, no open  
> skype (voice) chat, no virtual questions. While in the past (san  
> juan, la, etc) dial-ups did take place - nothing was done in cairo.  
> Voip, is easy to do - and there is no excuse not to allow for  
> virtual participation. In an age where we are more connected then  
> ever, to do nothing - well, if not to care in the least. Indeed, a  
> formal complaint should b e lodged and actions taken to make sure  
> virtual participation - at alac meetings and other icann sessions is  
> not just considered, but actually done in a way that is effective  
> and participatory. Icann can do better on this, it must ..

<CLO>  All valid point and issues of great frustration to many of us  
involved, THESE ARE matters we can discuss as an ALAC and as I said it  
will be on our Agenda d=for the 25th (and your apologies are noted)

> As for the public forum - indeed it seems that the "public  
> participation director" seems to have had little effect in enhancing  
> public participation at meetings. Can one not learn from the US  
> election and use youtube to seek questions and comments and play  
> them back at thr meeting. Sigh.

<CLO>  I am more than happy to organise a single topic call with the  
ALAC/At-Large and the Public Participation Director to further this  
important discussion (in fact I had started to discuss this with  
Kieren in Cairo on the Saturday)

> In summary, I think there is a bottom up interest for participation  
> and dialogue - but these are resisted by management who prefer to  
> control the agenda and keep desenting views to a min. What can be done
- well, comment and participate using other channels . Perhaps  
interested actors would be well advised to submit a letter not to the  
board, but instead to the incoming adminstration .

<CLO>  I couldn't agree more

Robert

<insert of request email on 30th October>
(resending - was in my queue, not sure if sent last night)

Nick & Cheryl:

I have been in touch over the last several weeks with  Gemy Hood,who  
is  the Editor in Chief of El Dostor Daily News www.dostor.org and  
quite actively involved in the Egyptian blogosphere.

Thanks to funds I have been able to raise, Gemy and his colleagues,  
have - in less then a week  - been able to develop a short 20 min  
video (arabic with english subtitles) that documents the issues &  
challenges faced by Egyptian Internet users. I would like to propose  
to show at at the ICANN meeting .

.org (PIR) has graciously agreed to contribute 2,000 USD to sponsor a  
small  reception / outreach event so that participants of the ICANN  
meeting can get a better understanding of the issues and challenges  
faced by local internet users, and local users can learn about ways of  
more actively participating at ICANN and Internet Governance processes.


If At-large is interested in collaborating in the session - then it  
would be great. It would be a wonderful opportunity for us to better  
know our local counterparts .. and encourage them to register as an  
ALAC. We are missing participation from MENA region, and getting one  
or more groups from Cairo to get involved would demonstrate that  
At-Large is able to do outreach at meetings.


As for dates - Thursday Nov 6th between 4-5pm works well for Gemy and  
others in the city. The next step, perhaps with both of your help -   
is to book a space at the conference venue, and arrange logistics for  
a reception. As I mentioned below, there is a small amount available  
for hosting the reception. I would be more then open to have some ALAC  
and/or ICANN staff at the start of the session if there's an interest  
to do so



regards

Robert
---



R. Guerra
Project Director, Internet Freedom, Freedom House
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<end Insert snip>

Response from Nick...

On 30-Oct-08, at 8:21 AM, Nick Ashton-Hart wrote:


Dear Robert:

I?m preparing to leave now so there?s little I can do until tomorrow  
at this point on this. I can say that it is VERY late in the day to  
try and get any space at the conference venue for additional meetings  
? I will ask about it when I arrive. Is the video available somewhere  
online so it can be seen?

RG reply Fri 31/10/2008 12:51 AM

Nick:

I haven't seen the video yet. Will see it when I arrive tomorrow.

Look forward to seeing you the rest of at-large this weekend.

Robert
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